InterMedia Insights 4.25.2016

Hot Media Trends for April 25, 2016

National advertising commercial loads fell slightly at three network groups during March as overall national TV ad loads remain stable. 21st Century Fox, Scripps Networks, Time Warner and Viacom witnessed slight overall declines to their networks in March versus the same month a year ago, according to Pivotal Research Group. Fox’s broadcast network ratings were down with cable channels FX and FXX showing stable viewership. Fox News nearly doubled its viewership, due to heightened interest this political season. Scripps Networks, HGTV was generally up, offsetting “reduced ad loads leading to slightly total inventory gains.” Food Network had softer ratings with slightly higher commercial loads. Time Warner’s, TBS was down with ratings and ad loads. Stable ratings were found at TNT and truTV with ad loads falling. CNN witnessed higher viewership from political interest and had more commercial activity per hour. Viacom went lower overall but its networks tallied the highest commercial glut of any TV network group. Commercial loads and ratings were down slightly at MTV. TV Land and Spike were down more in ratings and commercial loads. VH1 and Nick-at-Nite had a positive picture — up in ratings and down in commercial loads. Both Viacom and Turner executives expressed a desire to cut back on advertising on some of its networks. (Read More on MediaPost)

Nielsen’s 4th quarter 2015 Comparable Metrics Report, smartphones across all adult demographic groups are the most used platform, in terms of days per week among users of each medium—with adults 18+ using their devices nearly every day in the week (5.8 times per week), followed by television (5.5 times per week). Adult TV viewers watch an average of 5.5 days per week. Tablets are used more often by people ages 35-49 than ages 18-34. Penetration among ages 50 and over is only 19%, but those owners use tablets most often. Smartphone owners within the age range of 35-49 use their phones most often. (This includes app and web usage, not talk, text or email). (Read More on Nielsen)

Facebook is expanding its third-party verification program related to viewability and attention metrics for ads. The company said it’s adding Nielsen, Integral Ad Science and comScore to the list of choices advertisers have when looking for an outside perspective to measure the effectiveness of their photo and video ads on the social media platform. Facebook has come under some scrutiny by advertising industry leaders who are reluctant to pay for video views that users might be merely scrolling past instead of viewing in their newsfeeds. Facebook began partnering with Moat, which offers independent verification of video ads metrics. The partners are still a few months away from verifying the ad viewability and attention metrics, which is increasingly demanded by advertisers who spend on the platform. What’s clear to most in the industry by now is the digital ad money spent on Facebook is no small sum. In the 1st quarter of this year, 85 cents of every dollar spent on digital advertising will go to either Facebook or Google. (Read more on Adweek)

U.S. digital advertising revenues logged their 6th consecutive year of double-digital growth in 2015, reaching a new high of $59.6 billion. That’s among the stats of the full-year “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report,” released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The overall figure marks a 20% surge over the record-breaking 2014 revenues of $49.5 billion. The report shows that 2015’s 4th quarter numbers reached $17.4 billion, a 23% increase from the $14.2 billion in Q4 2014, and an 18% increase from $14.7 billion in 2015’s 3rd quarter. Display-related advertising (non-mobile) revenues in 2015 totaled $13.9 billion, representing 23% of the year’s revenues, an uptick of 3% over the $13.5 billion in 2014. Retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet ad spending, responsible for 22% last year, followed by automotive and financial services, which each accounted for 13% of the year’s revenues. (Read more on Inside Radio)

This and That…

Great Article on the Audience Puzzle in Fast Company

How Nielsen Plans To Solve The Audience Puzzle… As the television landscape fractures, figuring out who is watching what has never been more difficult—or important. (Read the article on Fast Company)

5 Ways Historically Male Brands Are Now Reaching Out to Women via ADWEEK

Lessons from the NFL, Adidas, Harley Davidson and others. Tip #3 is to buy media where women will see it! (Read more on Adweek.com)

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